Rotary surface-brush



M., C. SHINN.

ROTARY SURFACE BRUSH. APPLICATION FILED AUGJ, 1919.

1,374,476. Patented Apr. 12, 1921.

1 8 I Z I m 5 J a 20 i o 24 5 2/ 1; 4 hiulJHJ 4. v 3 m,

Mary C. Sky/amuseful Improvements in Rotary Surface- UNITED STATES PATENT OFF.I CE.II I

MARY c. SHINN', or SEATTLE, WASH NGTON.

ROTARY SURFACE-BRUSH.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, NIARY'C: Sir-inn, a.

citizen of the United States; residing at Seattle,-in the county of King and State of \Vashington, have invented certain new and Brushes; and I do hereby declare the fol- ;lowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as willenable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make anduse the same.

This invention relates to scrubbing or polishing apparatus and more particularly to a power driven and manually applied brush.

The present improvement relates to that type of brushes which are designed to rotate over and scrub and clean or polisha given 1 surface and in'which the brush is directed by a motor and mechanism connecting the same to the brush, the Whole being coinactl or anized for convenient handlin i b m Another object of the presentinvention is I to provide for the efficient driving of a pair of brushes mounted for rotation about par;-

allel axes, the bristles of the brush "project ing from a disk and terminating in a plane parallel to the outer orlow-er surface of thedisk. A further object of the present in-- vention isLto' provide a power'driven brush organized into a self. contained unit and with which the brush is relatively yieldingly mounted.

A. further object of the invention is to provide a power'driven 'rotary'brush structure in 'whichthe casing is provided to inclose the motor aI1(l1'-OI1"WhlCh casing the brushes are so disposed as to be readily. ap

plied with their active bristle'ends in en gagementon a surface to" bepolished, the

brushes and motor organized and being so arranged that the unit ofx'the' motor and a part of the housing may be availed-of to secure the desiredpressure of the brushes;

to the surface being operated'upon. "In addition to the above objects a further obyect is to provide a handlestructure extending in suchposition from the housing as to be used-as-a lever whenthe outer end of'the; handle'is fulcrumed on a suitable support as for instance, on the surface being treated and further toprovide" for a ready shifting of the device in any desired direction with minimum resistance over the surface;

With theabove and otherobjects in view as will be rendered manifest to those versed in the art, the invention consists of the Application filedau ustfi, 1919; serial No. 315,990.;

construction, the combination, and in de-I tails and arrangements of the parts as more particularlydescribed hereinafter relative to the embodlment of. the invention illus Specificati'on'of Letters ratent. V Pa'thtd trated in the: accompanying. drawings;-..in.

which: a r Figure 1 is a side elevationgofthe .brushr as applied to. a surface. I

Fig. 2 is a bottom or. underneath plan view of the device. v V i Fig. 3 is an. elevationalzviewof thefde vice showing'one-half or section of themslng removed to disclose .the motortandidrivingshaft connection,

being in section. f

Fig. 4 is a detail. view of the geariorga'n izationltaken on line 4:4: ofFi'g. .3.

the brush mounting Fig. 5 is a cross section at 5'5 of Fig.3.

In the illustrated embodiment. of the in vention a motor casing-2 is formed of suitable sections or parts which maybe appro priatelysecured together as by screws 3,the

, casinginclosing a suitable form-0f electric motor fl havingits' shaft apparatus journalednln an'upright position with respect 'to the plan of use of'the apparatus. The.

motor shaft comprises an upper section 5 J which is longitudinally splined or grooved as at 6, to match with a complementary secl tlon (,WhGIGbY the latter sectlon'can-be shifted axially but is normally shifted out? 1 1 wardly to a limited position by meansof a spring 8, in thiscase shown as mounted in a housing '9 to the-splinedsections of the V shaft, j therefore, the shaftls extenslble n length but rotates as a unity.

The housing? s 'i -lower sicle a'l lb 10 having at. its lower'end an inwardly pro- 'gecting flange integral therewith to form: a stop agalnst the outenmovement of the lowershaft section .7 and the depending section 11; extends through thehub and is revolubly journaled in a yielding carrier '12," which fits on the hub 10' for sliding move- .ment on the 'non-rotative' hub; This slide or carrier has formed in its'l'ower'portion a shallowchamber 13, in which liesa train of gears the pinion 'or'master gear 14:," of

of the slide or carrier12' and having its bristles" arrange Plane rotating bodily about the aXis of its shaft 16.

similar brush is provided on the opposite side of the gear lt and has on its shaft a gear 18 which engages an intermediate gear 19, which meshes with the driving gear 14, the object of this system of gearing being to secure the rotation of the brushes 17, in

readily controlling the pressure when thebrushes 16 are forced onto the surface being treated and therefore, which means provides for a ready shifting of the brush in the desired direction. To secure these objects the casing 2 is shown as having extended through one side a tube or neck 20. forming a handle, which has a downwardly turned end portion 21, preferably provided with a roller 22, which decreases the resistance of shifting the device over the surface to which it may be applied and on which it is operating. This handle 20 is supported in raised position from the floor by means of the roller 22, so that the handle can be readily grasped by the hand, the roller forming a fulcrum to guide the brushes as may be desired. Also the handle'provides a conven ient guard for the electrical current wires 28,

which may be led into the handle through an opening 24 provided for that purpose. Any suitable construction may be utilized such as the switch designated at 25, and as here shown is preferably located adjacent the junction between the housing and the handle or lever 30, and is thus readily engaged by the thumb or fore finger of the operator to control the operation of the motor.

By yieldingly mounting the motor housing with respect to the'slide orccarrier 12, it will be seen that the bristles of the brushes will be protected against being deflected or bent unduly by the initial movement of the housing under the pressure of the hand when applied to thehandle so that the operator can by the sense of touch readily determine the amount of pressure that is being applied to the brushes. i

In addition to the above advantage by the provision of the yielding means between the brushes and the motor and its bearings this yielding meanstends to overcome excess vibration of the parts and also prevents the device from bodily and vertically jumping or moving as it is shifted over irregularities in the surface being treated.

While I have described the brushes in my apparatus to be provided with bristles, as the commonly used means for scrubbing, yet I have designed the apparatus more particfrom old surfaces and preparing the same for fresh paint or finishing coats, and for such purposes I use small but stiff wires instead of bristles for the brushes. These wires I place very thickly together so that the bearing surface of the points of the wires nearly covers the surface to be pol ished, yet in the rotary motion the points naturally divide sufficiently to make each of the points individuallyact against the sur face, and being stiff they very quickly re- 1 move any substance from such surface and leave it clean. What I desire to claim is:

'1. A rotary brush device comprising a shaft, a housing providing bearings for said shaft, one of said bearings extending beyond the outer wall of the housing to forum a hub,

a brush carrier providedwith brushes slidably mounted upon said hub, said shaft being longitudinally extensible, gear connections between said shaft and said brushes and a motor on the shaft within the housing for imparting a rotative movement to the shaft. I

2. In a rotary brush device,a motor and a 7 housing therefor, a brush carrier, said brush carrier provided with sockets on opposite sides, a hub on said motor housing slidably fitting into one of said sockets, a chain of gears fitting into the other of said sockets with the outer side of said gears substantially coplanar with the face of said carrier, shafts carrying said gears pivotally'mounted in said carrier, and brushes mounted on a pair of said gears, and means interconnecting said motor and said gears to rotate said brushes.

3. In a rotary brush device, a motor prov vided with a housing, an extension formed on the housing and projecting therefrom to form a handle, a supporting roller at the outer end of the extenslon, a brush carrier provided with rotary brushes and means interconnecting said motor and brushes to ro- 11o being slidable upon said hub, brushes r0-,

tatably mounted in said carrier, and means interconnecting said brushes and said motor j to provide for the rotation of said brushes by said motor. 7 l

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

. MARY O. SHINN. 

